SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 14, 2000 -- Newly earned fame and power can really wear one down.So says Wes Bentley.The "American Beauty" scene-stealer has decided to drop out of Warner Bros.’ "Queen of the Damned," citing the need of personal downtime as the primary reason.Based on the novel by gothic maven Anne Rice, "Damned" is the third installment of the author’s "Vampire Chronicles." (The first installment, "Interview With the Vampire," was made into a hit 1994 movie starring Tom Cruise, Brad

Synopsis

Mythological tales, some inspired by the allegories of Ovid are illustrated in this film. Stories include those of the goddess Diana turning the hunter Acteon into a stag, Phaeton driving the chariot of the sun across the sky and to his doom, and Perseus successfully avoiding the fate of being turned into stone by Medusa.